Etymologically
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fortuna

Etymology and origin of the Latin word fortuna

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*bʰer-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [fɔrˈtuː.na][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [forˈtuː.na][1]

Forms

fortūna f (genitive fortūnae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from fors “chance”, as a feminine noun from an unattested adjective *fortūnus, Proto-Italic *fortūnā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰr̥-tew-n-éh₂, built on the root of ferō “to bear, bring”.[1][2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are from Plautus, of Fortune as a force and as a goddess.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the agency that directs events, Fortune, good or bad, with bona fortūna, and the goddess Fortuna, as in Plautus and Cicero, per fortūnās was an earnest appeal.[2][6] It meant fortune as granting success, as in Ennius, the luck of a general, the workings of chance, an opportunity, an outcome, and one's fate, destiny.[2] It meant prosperity, misfortune, condition, rank, and in the plural wealth, property, as in Cicero.[2] Naevius has the old genitive fortūnās.[2][3] Döderlein contrasts cāsus, chance as a natural agent, with fors, chance personified.[7]

In Medieval Latin it meant the right to treasure trove, and fortūna maris was the risk of a sea voyage.[8] It survives in Italian fortuna and Romanian furtună “storm”.[1] Through Old French it is the source of English fortune about 1300.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of Fortune and of fate.[2][5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of fortune granting success.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of wealth and of the goddess.[2][6][5]
  • c. 1300 – English fortune is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Fortune, chance (personified); the goddess Fortuna.[2]
  2. Luck; success.[2]
  3. An opportunity; an outcome.[2]
  4. Fate, destiny.[2]
  5. Prosperity; misfortune.[2]
  6. Condition, rank.[2]
  7. (plural) Wealth, property.[2]

Word family

  • fortunarius
  • fortūnō
  • fors
  • forsan
  • forsit
  • forsitan
  • fortāsse
  • fortāssis
  • forte
  • fortuītō
  • fortuītus
  • fortūnātus
  • English fortune

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Fortuna.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/fortuna. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·